Haiti

Today, the Caribbean island nation of Haiti is struggling to maintain its democratic experiment embarked upon in 1990. Presidential elections held in 1995 represented the first time in the nation's 200 year history that transition of power from one democratically elected government to another was completed successfully (Haiti - Political situation, 1997, 1). However, Haiti's fledgling democracy stands threatened by political infighting and lack of vision which has paralyzed the government. The democratic process in Haiti is also threatened by rampant corruption within the judicial system as well as an alarming surge in crime which many link directly to increased traffic in cocaine on the island (The wonders of Haitian democracy, 1998, 39).

Haiti stands at a crossroads in which its democratic form of government as well as any chances of economic growth will only survive if the political factions of the nation unite in both resolve and vision to clean up the epidemic of corruption and inefficiency in their political system. If the Haitians fail to create a program for future growth and stability, they risk falling back into their centuriesold pattern of violence, oppression, human rights violations, and economic stagnation. It is important to note that while future stability in that nation must be supported by foreign aid, any program will fail unless the Haitian people themselves create change and take responsibility for their own destiny.

Related Essays

Haiti Haiti is an impoverished country with 63 percent of its population undernourished and only about 25 percent having clean drinking water (Thurn, 2005). .... (553 2 )

Transnationalism in Haiti .... familial, economic, social, organizational, religious, and political--that span borders we call "transmigrants" (Basch, Schiller, and Blanc 7). Haiti serves as .... (1439 6 )

Voodoo in Haiti This is a study of Voodoo in Haiti: Its character as a religious system of belief, and its socioeconomic and political role in Haitian culture. .... (2107 8 )

Deforestation & Dislocation in Haiti This is the terrible irony of life in Haiti, where cash-crop agricultural production has led to rampant deforestation, which, in turn, has ruined the .... (2735 11 )

Voodoo in Haiti This is a study of Voodoo in Haiti: its character as a religious system of belief, and its socioeconomic and political role in Haitian culture. .... (2210 9 )

from the Haitian political stage during a series of elections scheduled for 1995 (Trouillot, 1997, 2). Nevertheless, one of the most vocal critics outside of Haiti was Jimmy Carter's Heritage Foundation which had formerly been strong supporters of Aristide. The Heritage Foundation charged Aristide with circumventing Haiti's 1987 Constitution. In one of the more blatant instances of tampering with the Constitution, Aristide unilaterally placed the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) under Presidential domain. Shortly thereafter a series of rulings came down from this council which badly tilted the political process toward Aristide's ruling party, Lavalas. Some of the new regulations made it impossible for opposition parties to register for the 1995 elections (Tierney, 1995, 1). Unfortunately, worse tactics by Aristide and his supporters were displayed during the summer elections for local positions in the departments as well as national legislative positions. Aristide rebuffed efforts from his former friend, Jimmy Carter, to monitor the elections and both opposition parties and international media outlets and observers charged that the elections were rigged by rampant ballot tampering. Aristide supporters on the CEP dismi

Category: Foreign - H